Profile · Abdolkarim Soroush · hosted obituary
Remembering a translator’s work
English editorial guide title.
Malu Halasa remembers Nilou Mobasser’s work between literature, journalism and public expression, including Look Europe!
- Credited to
- Malu Halasa
- Publication
- Abdolkarim Soroush · hosted obituary
- Source date
- 21 March 2012
- Published language
- English
- This page
- English source guide
Works discussed
English editorial guide to the original publication. Assessments and recollections remain attributed to their speakers.
A voice carried across languages
Writing about her friend Nilou Mobasser, Malu Halasa connects translation with the public lives of writers whose work encountered censorship. She describes a practice that moved between philosophical writing, journalism, literary prose and the demanding daily work of monitoring broadcast language. Source 1
The obituary identifies Mobasser as the translator of Look Europe! in 1997. Halasa recalls the Almeida presentation with Harold Pinter and a Southbank Centre appearance involving Mobasser, Rabihavi, Pinter, Salman Rushdie and Doris Lessing in a discussion of freedom of expression for Index on Censorship. Source 1
The person behind a credit
Halasa also recalls Mobasser’s interest in essays, reportage and fiction, including her work on Transit Tehran. The obituary gives a personal context to a name that otherwise appears in translation credits. Its correction explicitly changes the beginning of Mobasser’s BBC Monitoring employment to 1988, preserving the distinction between a career date and the 1997 play. Source 1
Sources & credits
- Malu Halasa · Nilou Mobasser obituary
English obituary hosted by Abdolkarim Soroush’s website, 21 March 2012, with a printed correction dated 28 March.